On Oct 24, 2007, at 10:59 PM, Carlos Eduardo Mello wrote:
Hi,
I was having a closer look at applications I use everyday in order
to get a better idea about what kind of windows are best suited for
my own app. I was particularly interested in which windows should
stay at the front, which should be toggled open/closed, etc. During
this process I came across some behaviour that made me very
confused about this whole issue, in spite of all the reading I've
been doing on the subject. So I would appreciate it if anyone would
care to comment on this:
Playing with Mail app's Window menu, I noticed the following:
1. Of the four "extra" windows in the application, two look and
behave like document windows while two, namely, 'Address Panel' and
'Activity Viewer', look like floating or utility windows.
2. These last two look the same. Also, both have key equivalents
on their corresponding command in the Window menu, and both are
toggled open/closed by the menu command or key equivalent. However,
'Address Panel' stays above all windows while 'Activity Viewer'
hides behind the other windows when these are brought to front. As
a result, if the user forgets he has just coverred 'Activity
Viewer' with, for example, the 'Message Viewer' and then uses the
menu command to reach 'Activity Viewer' nothing, it seems, happens,
unless he issues the command one more time, because the first time
around Mail was closing it behind the scene.
3. While the above behaviour may be quickly learned (although still
irritating), things get really strange when you have the Adress
Panel and the Activity Viewer open.Then, if one is obscured by the
other, and the user is not aware (maybe because its the first time
he is using these features), trying to get to the Activity Viewer
through the menu looks (to the user) completely broken, no matter
how many times he clicks the menu or uses the key equivalent.
So I was wondering:
What is the rationale behind these diferences?
There is no rationale for the hiding/showing thing. It's just not
written to consistently provide the correct behavior. I'd file it as
a bug if I weren't so tired from working in my attic for the past few
hours. LOL
As for why one stays above and the other doesn't, I believe Address
Panel stays above other Mail windows so you can drag addresses from
it into message windows. Activity Viewer is basically just a progress
window. You don't usually interact with it so there's no reason to
keep it in front.
Why not show the window instead of closing it,
See above.
if it is called while obscured by other windows?
That would be the correct action.
Larry
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